for Successful Homeschooling

Don't let traditional grade levels confine and constrict you.*

Learning happens at its own pace, and different children find different subjects more challenging than others. It's completely fine if your child happens to excel at math, but needs more help with reading. There is no reason to hold him back in math simply because he can't read as well as common core standards say he should. Likewise, a seven-year-old interested in astronomy should be encouraged to pursue his interests, instead of being told to wait because “he'll learn more about it in grade X”. With homeschooling, more time can be dedicated to subjects your child is passionate about.

You don't need to do everything all at once.*

If you cover the essential basics — Bible, math, language arts — it will be much easier for other subjects to fall into place.

Learning is all the time, anywhere and everywhere.

Here's an example: When my siblings and I were younger, our mom would take us everywhere with her. During grocery shopping, she'd have us estimate weights, calculate which products were cheaper based on price per ounce, and try to guess what the final cost of our cart would be. It was a fun math game we played, and taught us skills like estimation, addition, multiplication, and ratios.

The takeaway from this story is that there are many opportunities for learning in everyday life. You just need to keep an eye out for them and use them.

Kids don't all learn the same way.

One of the hardest things for teachers, tutors, and parents everywhere is working with a child who doesn't understand things the same way they do. Homeschooling, fortunately, gives you the time and opportunity to help your child figure out what makes them tick. Try different learning methods to see what works best for your child.

Every parent has something unique they can pass down to their kids.

A mother of nine gave this advice to my own mom when she began homeschooling my siblings and I. (At that time, we knew many homeschool families gifted in music and art, and my mom mentioned something about how she wished she could do those things with us too.)

People are gifted in different things — music, cooking, math, gardening, and more. My mom loved memorizing verses, so that became the unique thing she chose to pass on to her children.

Whether your thing is related to work, a hobby, or a character trait — think of some quality you have that you want your kids to have as well. The beauty of homeschooling is that it isn't a cookie cutter method. Every family has its own specialty.